"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have"
Thomas Jefferson

Friday, February 20, 2009

Prison Closures Coming

The Governor plans to close prisons and that is largely falling under the radar of the MSM. A combination of release of inmates, reform of Rockefeller drug laws and a budget proposal under Public Protection and General Government Article 7 Legislation would all add up to several state prison closures. 

Paterson is proposing to eliminate the 1 year notification required before a prison is closed and remove the ultimate authority for closure from the legislature and turn it over to the Commissioner.

Read more here.

You can be well assured the closures will occur in mainly upstate regions, with the balance of power heavily influenced toward downstate. 

Is this bad or good news for New York? In terms of balancing the budget it could be considered good news but, it will significantly effect the employment of this area therefore, what is truly gained for Northern New York?

Another piece of potentially good news in this proposal is use of these facilities for local inmates, which could effectively eliminate the need for Jefferson County to spend taxpayer money to satisfy a campaign promise for the Sheriff by building a jail where the need is questionable at best.  

If you don't think prisons are closing just listen to this Senator and click it around 11:30 mark where she says "we expect we will be closing prisons ... " the notion that they are economic development engines because they create jobs is fool-hearted to think according to this Democratic Senator.

Where do our state officials; Darrel, Addie and Dede stand on this issue?

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, it won't be hard to figger out where Darrel stands.

During last summer's first round of prison cuts, he stood four-square behind his governor, insisting the unions WANTED the job cuts at Watertown CF (of course, that position was absurd, but that's Darrel).

This round, he's more worried about budget cuts that will cost him his junkets than cuts that cost us our jobs.

Danny M. Francis (Eyepublius) said...

Kinda fits here I guess? The Final 407 pages of the official recovery bill that Mr. OBAMA signed into law.

Enjoy your research

Anonymous said...

Obama gives billions for teachers and police. Paterson closes prisons and costs us jobs. Does he understand that families have budget problems too?

Anonymous said...

Obama gives billions to protect teachers and create jobs.

Paterson closes prisons and lays off COs.

Does he understand that families have budget problems too?

Anonymous said...

Never should have used the criminal justice system to address economic policy in the first place. It was a mistake many decades ago to do so and now its what many communities have come to rely upon (for jobs) And that is very unfortunate. The net was widened (Rockefeller Drug laws), and because of few alternatives to incarceration programs, prison beds were built and filled. But think of the families (from whom offenders come) who get hurt the most, as the former inmates have the most trouble renewing their lives, due to the stigma of prison and the lack of good rehabilitation programs. Imprisonment is the solution for certain individuals, but has been overused in New York State. Now we have to pay(back) the piper.

jim cummings said...

Politicaliv,
Let's dig a little deeper:
Suzi Oppenheimer is a 12 term Senator from Westchester. She talks about the four prison being closed in the video.
The four prisons are camps which are fully staffed and nowhere near filled to capacity with inmates. She referred to these camps as an "economic development tool, that we can not afford to maintain". These camps have been on the chopping block for years and have evaded closing. They are NOT all located in upstate NY. Pharsalia [Chenango] and Hudson [Columbia] are downstate, Gabriels [Franklin] is upstate and McGregor [Saratoga] would be central.

Anonymous said...

Even if I lose prison job. I don't want any help from either the stimulus money or from the messiah and his mortgage bail out. Just give back my tax money.

Anonymous said...

Don't you dare say anything bad about the teachers. They are now arriving back from their most recent vacation in the Bahamas. You guys shut the hell up for three weeks or so, then you can talk again. The teachers will then be on winter break.

jim cummings said...

Three weeks or so? The SCHOOL CHILDREN do not get another break till middle of April. Are you suggesting that the children should go to school 5 days a week all year long?
Anon. 3:09 pm must hate kids and loathe teachers even more....

Anonymous said...

6:32 is right. The teachers just got a week off, and they have to work until April to get another week off. I thought there was another weeks vacation in March. Sorry, I was wrong.

It's a long stretch till April.
I feel their pain. I can only hope there aren't many more two hour delays to interfere with all the lesson plans they put together while in the Bahamas.

Anonymous said...

Close prisons? Where on earth will we put all the politicians?

Anonymous said...

Politicians don't go to jail. They just get reelected. And if its really a bad situation, they get a good retirement and draw pay anyway. Either way they are set for life. Health care free, the whole bit.

Anonymous said...

J. C. the way your going at our camp you won't have any friends left if you do now, and we won't have a job. No what I mean? Keep it up, good job!

Anonymous said...

NCPR didn't miss it.

Anonymous said...

Where did you get the idea that the prisons should be open FOREVER?

If the prison population is in decline, then consolidate the inmates, and the help, and close what is not needed. We did the same with military bases. We do the same with manufacturing.

You sayin' that this is an ENTITLEMENT for our area, IV?

Anonymous said...

iv's only idea is to try to gin up some controversy for the democrats (and yeah, s/he threw dede in there too, but the true faithful know she's a rino anyway.)

Anonymous said...

It's worth talking about, Frogger. These camps represent a big potential savings. They also show how nothing really changes regarding state spending decisions. Let 'em talk.

Anonymous said...

anon 8:56,
i completely agree with you, actually. it's just that iv's record reveals s/he doesn't care a whit about issues, only about attacking political opponents.

Anonymous said...

I don't agree, Kermit. I think IV is interested in more than just partisan politics. Nobody's perfect.


Now what about my cardinal?
Am I going to get one in the spring, and will they stay? I get 'em for a day or so, then they move on. I feed sunflower, shelled sunflower, niger, suet, and cracked corn. (My enemies will have fun with that one, but it's true). And I keep it all filled up every day. I just can't seem to keep them. Lots of finches, but no cardinals. You got any suggestions? I'm getting to a point where I'd listen to a liberal if it would get me a cardinal, even for a couple of days.

Anonymous said...

as for iv, i guess we'll just have to disagree about that. i think what i said at 10:05 is plain as day -- it's a point i've made in lots of other comments, though i don't feel like looking things up right now -- but i also understand that in these kinds of disagreements, both sides often feel that way.

and as for the cardinal, i'm afraid i don't have any advice for you. i've never had feeders myself, actually. i know my mom has gotten them in the summer, but i'm not sure about this time of year. no idea what she feeds, though. have you tried asking google?

jim cummings said...

To Anon, 2/23 @ 7:16am,
If I could only know who you might be, then I could figure out which orifice you might be speaking from....

Anonymous said...

Yup, I have Hermit. They say it's not so much what you feel the cardinals as the way you feed them. They like wide perches, and that may be where I'm going wrong. They also like to be fed where they can see everything around them, being a nervous bunch. I'll let you know how it goes. You should try this bird feedin' sometime. It's a good way to get through a long winter. Talk to the folks at that new Blue Seal out on Bradley, they be helpful. Thistle and sunflower, stick with them for the most part. And get big feeders, lest you have to fill them all the time. Every day is enough. See ya.

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